Microsoft to force Windows 11 24H2 on Home and Pro users
- Reference: 1737394266
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/01/20/microsoft_to_force_windows_11/
- Source link:
Enterprises need not worry at this stage – devices managed by IT departments won't be updated. But users with an eligible machine running the Home or Pro version of Windows 11 will eventually get an [1]automatic upgrade . A convenient time can be chosen, and the update can be postponed, but it will be installed at some point in the future.
Windows 11 24H2 has not gone entirely to plan for Microsoft. While most users have had no problems with the update, there have been issues for some. The company has an ever-lengthening list of known issues, many of which remain unmitigated or unresolved since the operating system was launched in the second half of 2024.
[2]
Recently resolved issues include [3]problems with Ubisoft games , and USB devices that support the [4]eSCL scanner protocol – although the latter might not have been entirely fixed, [5]according to disgruntled users in hardware support forums.
[6]
Microsoft has form when it comes to forcing new versions of its operating system onto user hardware. Almost a year ago, [7]Windows 11 23H2 was rolled out in the same way – the company's [8]support lifecycle means Home and Pro users must be kept up to date, whether those users like it or not, in order to receive support.
[9]Windows 11 24H2 can run – sort of – in 184MB
[10]Microsoft adds another problem to the Windows 11 24H2 naughty list
[11]Microsoft coughs up yet more Windows 11 24H2 headaches
[12]Windows 11 24H2 strikes again – Outlook might not start with Google Workspace Sync running
Forcing Windows 11 24H2 onto users won't affect machines subject to a [13]safeguard hold where Microsoft has decided to block the installation (likely due to one of the documented known issues.) Nor does it affect users sticking with Windows 10 – devices that don't meet Microsoft's hardware requirements for its flagship operating system won't suddenly be able to pass muster for Windows 11 24H2. There is also little in Windows 11 24H2 to attract users who have chosen to skip previous versions.
Instead, IT professionals around the world should gird their loins for the inevitable friends and family support calls when Windows 11 24H2 makes a surprise appearance, and uncle Fester is surprised that things have suddenly started working a little differently. ®
Get our [14]Tech Resources
[1] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/release-health/status-windows-11-24h2
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Z47VjdJudNbAEDmQc2yY4wAAABg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/release-health/resolved-issues-windows-11-24h2#3448msgdesc
[4] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/release-health/resolved-issues-windows-11-24h2#3446msgdesc
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/02/scanner_canon_windows_update/
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z47VjdJudNbAEDmQc2yY4wAAABg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/21/windows_11_23h2_upgrade/
[8] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-11-home-and-pro
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/07/windows_11_24h2_can_run/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/12/27/microsoft_windows_11_security_update/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/12/19/windows_11_24h2_issues/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2024/12/09/outlook_windows_11_issue/
[13] https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/topic/kb5006965-how-to-check-information-about-safeguard-holds-affecting-your-device-265cf311-6c98-4413-956b-75b3044dfde9
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: "an ever-lengthening list of known issues, many of which remain unmitigated or unresolved"
I love my brick!
Re: "an ever-lengthening list of known issues, many of which remain unmitigated or unresolved"
They're very "in" at the moment. I believe even "Design Today" magazine had a cover feature - "a new look for autumn - BRICK enlivens dull floor"
Icon: DRINK! FECK! ---->
"Windows 11 23H2 was rolled out in the same way – the company's support lifecycle means Home and Pro users* must be kept up to date, whether those users like it or not, in order to receive support."
What is this support of which they speak? When "end of support" is mentioned for W10 (or older) it seems to mean the time when the updates stop being rolled out. So they seem to be saying the users computers must keep being updated in order to keep being updated.
If an enforced update borks a user's computer why should MS not be prosecuted under the appropriate legislation?
* I assume they men the users' computers. Even in these days of intrusive AI I doubt they're updating the actual users. At least I hope they're not.
It seems odd that in a country where typing a url manually to donate to a charity is prosecuted under the 'Doing Anything With A Computer Act" that a company can force an update to a system you bought and break it.
> I doubt they're updating the actual users
You will be updated. Our technological and pathological detritus will be added to your own. Resistance is futile.
self-defense
If you get this forced on you, you must do at least this (in an administrative window) to disable the recall insanity (minus the leading >):
> Dism /online /Disable-Feature /FeatureName:"Recall"
In theory you can also do it with gpedit, but those evil mother[bleep]ers have been playing whack a mole and you may not find this present:
> Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows AI > Allow Recall to be enabled -> disable
I would also suggest the following, though up to you. Will make your PC flail much less, free up RAM, and save your SSD a lot of wear. But not as catastrophic as recall:
> winget uninstall microsoft.onedrive "widgets platform runtime" "windows web experience pack" microsoft.teams.free
> Dism /online /Disable-Feature /FeatureName:"SearchEngine-Client-Package"
Re: self-defense
I would disable the TPM and / or secure boot to prevent this piece of crap from being installed in the first place !
Re: self-defense
I hate to tell you this, but umm..
.. I'm not sure how to tell you this ..
.. but I don't have any of these problems on my Macbook.
/runs away cackling evilly
:)
" RIP to the Pontiac Aztec. Who held the title of ugliest car for 23 years before the cybertruck came along. "
Re: self-defense
Smug Linux user checking in.
Re: self-defense
If you get this forced on you, you must do at least this
https://www.linuxmint.com/download.php
Time to tell MS
To FSCK OFF
Send them a legal Cease and Desist letter. Then if they force it on you then sue them for a few million. They were told not to interfere with your computer yet they ignored it.
Futile? Yes. but until people start to take a stand against forced updates they will carry on regardless.
I'm so glad that I gave them the finger more than 8 years ago.
Re: Time to tell MS
As long as it's not a thumb..
:)
Opt out of support
How do we opt out of support to stop 24H2 - that thing is so much slower on my kit than 23H2 - and that is just the base OS with no apps
Re: Opt out of support
https://youtu.be/nEjkPacrJ00?t=422
Re: Opt out of support
Install Windows 10
Re: Opt out of support
Install Linux.
I have but ONE question..
.. WHY ?!?
Why must MS roll out Yet Another Update which improves exactly zero, brings no actual tangible benefit to users, introduces a whole host of new problems and appears to solve exactly none?
How about fixing the many, many, MANY security problems in the existing code so for once we have a Patch Tuesday which does NOT amount to various TBs worth of updates floating around the network (yes, yes, I know they borrowed from torrenting to lessen the overall load, but that's merely camouflage to hide just how big the issue remains) and results in a horrendous amount of man hours lost to reboots and new shiny problems.
Oh, and no, making the update happen when a user shuts down so it impacts their personal time instead of company time (in my opinion a a very US invention) does not help because any sensible employee will simply pull the plug on the desktop or close the laptop and go home anyway, at which point you will not only have the impact the next day but also possible corruption. Well, I mean more than Windows itself.
FIRST get to something that is even just moderately safe and stable (proven by the lessening of the Patch Tuesday floods), THEN come up with new ideas.
I apologise in advance for asking a perfectly logical question. Microsoft Marketing people, as down is up in your world I expect upvotes from you.
I had some fun with my windows recently. Microsoft Store decided to just stop and so did windows defender. Neither would open. Whatsapp also decided to go bye bye. Pretty sure it was an update that did this but It wasn't this one. There were many other strange goings on I just couldn't put my finger on like motherboard fan control and some other programs being a little funny but still working.
I'm using 11 enterprise btw. I would like to think I know what I'm doing. I've got a Linux server which hasn't given me grief for 10 years now even with many updates and adjustments. I decided to start delving and fixing. SFC/DICM/Powershell uninstall and re-installs to name a few of the things you can do. Installing from Msixbundle. You name it. Absolutely nothing worked no matter what I did. I was ready to install over the top but alas I couldn't get it to give the option to keep programs (I was about to force change the image version to get round it) but then I did something so fucking simple it made me question my own existence and why the fuck I bother with these things. I booted into safe mode, ran sfc /scannow, it reported no errors whatsoever and I rebooted. By Grabthar's Hammer, everything was fixed and I mean everything. Since then I have done numerous scans and tests but I still have absolutely no idea what caused it exactly and absolutely no idea what fixed it. I guess this is the Windows 11 life now.
This update is going nowhere near my computer till I know it is absolutely safe. How do Microsoft get away with this? If it wasn't for certain software I would have ditched it years ago.
"How do Microsoft get away with this? If it wasn't for certain software I would have ditched it years ago."
I think you just answered your own question.
If you are desperate to get away from this, you need to learn about running a Windows VM under and alternative OS. Then you can gradually migrate function away from Windows. (Obviously web browsing, email and office-style apps are the low-hanging fruit here.) Naturally most people either can't be bothered or are too fearful to try, but it surprises me that enterprises and medium-sized businesses don't seem to be tempted either.
It's the same with Linux!
Just this morning! Staring at a pop-up, it wants to upgrade my Kubuntu 24.04 to 24.10! Will the madness never end?!
Oh... wait. It's voluntary, you say? I can just stay with LTS, you say? I'm not being forced at all, you say?
Never mind, then...
"an ever-lengthening list of known issues, many of which remain unmitigated or unresolved"
Obviously the perfect time to force an update, then.